Published: April 03, 2006 04:05 pm            

New museum planned to commemorate meteor crater formed millions of years ago

A big hole in the ground in Major County could be the reason for a new museum in downtown Ames.

Major County was struck by a meteor millions of years ago, which left one of the largest meteor impact craters in the world, according to Jayson Potts, president of corporate development for Continental Resources, an independent oil company in Enid.

The crater is 16 miles in diameter and two miles deep, and Ames is approximately in the middle of it, Potts said.

Over the years it has filled with sediment, dirt and other things and only a few parts of the crater can be seen today, Potts said.

The idea of a museum evolved from Bert Mackie, past president of Security National Bank in Enid, and Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources. The crater was discovered in 1999 when Hamm drilled a deep well and encountered crystal on the site.

“One of our geologists was the first one to map the area,” he said. “The first computer mapping was done in the area across it that showed what it is.”

The crater has produced very well. Hamm said the impact crater was a perfect heat and pressure source for making hydrocarbons.

In the crater was a material called grano-diorite, a material that was expelled into the air by the impact of the meteorite striking the earth, then falling back into it.

Some wells drilled in the crater have produced in excess of a million barrels.

“It is very unique to find that situation,” Hamm said.

Grano-diorite was expelled from the crater and fell back into it and created some of the best producing wells, which are located on the north side of the crater.

The meteorite struck during the time of the Arbuckle formation.

There are several categories of craters. A simple crater, for example is like a dent. The Ames crater is known as a complex crater, which is larger with a depressed ring around the interior.

The museum will not be entirely about oil, but about the uniqueness of the area, as well.

When fully functional, the museum will feature information about the creation of the crater, artifacts, publications and three-by-five posters in glass panes talking about the history of the crater and Continental Resources production statistics.

Potts said there are thousands of Internet publications about the Ames crater.

The museum will be placed in downtown Ames.

“People will be able to get a flavor of what it is all about,” Potts said. “When we release the design, landscape and pictures, people will be amazed.”